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“Your Royal Highness, is everything good? These days the Crown Prince seems lost,” Eunuch Lishi worriedly said.

Xiaoming didn’t answer him and tossed the scroll on the table. “I want to be alone,” Xiaoming said. Eunuch Lishi bowed and walked out of the study chamber. He was suffocating inside and there was no one with whom he could share all these thoughts.

Soon, this one month would pass and he would be forced to marry or select the concubines.

He didn’t want to sleep with any random woman and then produce heirs only to forward the lineage. He didn’t want to be like his father, who did not even look at his concubines except for three of them. But he was the Crown Prince, who was supposed to do it.

The biggest worrisome matter for him was the thing that Lóng Wei wanted from him: the removal of Qiu Mu from the position of General. He had decided to request Lóng Wei to forget his mistake, but he stopped because Lóng Wei would never forgive him.

He rested back on the chair and rubbed his fingers on his forehead. ‘I shall go out for a while,’ he thought and got up from the chair. He opened the door and Eunuch Lishi immediately bowed.

“I will be out for a while,” Xiaoming informed Eunuch Lishi.

“I will accompany the Crown Prince,” Eunuch Lishi said.

.....

“No,” Xiaoming refused him.

“May I know where the Crown Prince is heading to?” Eunuch Lishi asked politely.

“Even I don’t know,” he murmured and walked ahead.

Xiaoming reached the stable and the stable master brought the horse for him. “The Crown Prince came to the stable after a long time,” the stable master, who was an old man, said and smiled.

“You are right. I thought of going out for some air,” Xiaoming said and caressed the face of the horse, who liked it. “Heji, how have you been?” Xiaoming asked his white horse, who kept neighing.

“Heji missed his master,” the stable master said. Xiaoming hummed and hopped onto the horse.

“Your Royal Highness, please take security with you,” the stable master said with concern.

“You know that I love to go out alone. Don’t worry. Nothing will happen. I will not go far,” Xiaoming said and pulled the reins on the horse. Heji picked up the speed and started to run.

The night was falling and the sky was turning dark. The redness from the sky started to disappear. Xiaoming, after riding the horse for twenty minutes, tightly pulled its reins. Heji stopped and Xiaoming jumped down from its back. Heji lowered his head and started to graze on the ground.

Xiaoming kept walking forward and stopped at the bank of the pond. “What should I do?” He murmured and walked across the bank, trying to find a way.

At that moment, his inner voice told him to admit his mistake in front of the King. He could not guarantee that Lóng Wei would not blackmail him in the near future. If Lóng Wei could keep the secret of Qiu Mu hidden for such a long period, then he could do anything.

‘Father will forgive me if I accept the truth. I will tell the Royal Father that I did it so that I could marry Li Hua. My Royal Father already knows that I love Li Hua. He will definitely understand me. I cannot commit a second crime just to save myself. I cannot let Qiu Mu lose his position because of me.’

Xiaoming had found a way to get out of this terrible situation that was bothering him for many days. He knew that his father would be disappointed in him, but it was the best solution. He even had stopped eating, stopped sleeping, and stopped smiling like before. His one mistake brought him to the point where he could not do anything except worry. He was not this kind of person.

He looked back and found Heji was still grazing on the ground.

He got cautious when he heard strange voices coming from the water. He turned to look, but could not see anything after a foot away because of the darkness. He took out the dagger which was hidden inside his sash and with quiet steps, he moved forward.

His breath hitched when someone pointed the blade of the dagger at his neck. He didn’t utter any word and tightened his grip on the dagger that he was holding.

“Give me the money!”

Xiaoming heard the voice of a woman and he tried to move when the blade brushed the skin of his neck. Blood oozed out and the woman told him, “If you move an inch, then this blade will bury deep inside your neck. Better give me the money and I will let you go.”

“I have nothing,” Xiaoming replied.

“Don’t lie,” the woman said.

“I am not lying,” Xiaoming stated. “You shall not harm me as I am-”

“Shut up!!” the woman said. “Don’t lie to me,” she sternly said.

“I didn’t carry any money with me. I’ll give you the precious jade necklace. Could you please step back?” Xiaoming tried to convince her. He could not believe that he was captured by a woman this way.

“Don’t lie to me. I know your tricks. You will overpower me as soon as I step back. Give me the money,” the woman again demanded the money from him. She was adamant about not stepping back. “Also,” she grabbed his hand, which was holding the dagger, “throw it!” she said.

Xiaoming was surprised to find that she even noticed that in that darkness. For now, it was wise to act on her command. He threw the dagger, and it hit the ground.

“Now, I am unarmed. Move this dagger away. I can take the jade necklace out then,” Xiaoming urged her. The woman came forward to face him and it astonished him. Her face was covered with this black cloth and only her eyes were visible. It seemed to him that the woman was quite young, but her acts showed that she was experienced in all this despite her young age.

“You look from a rich family, yet you don’t carry any money,” the woman scoffed and moved the dagger down and cut the fabric of his dress. Xiaoming moved his eyes down and saw his robes were torn from the collars.

“I will check myself. Don’t try to act smart. I won’t even hesitate to kill you,” the woman warned him and her fingers touched the skin of Xiaoming, who fisted his palms. She pulled out the jade necklace from his neck.

“Ahh.” He felt slight pain as the woman pulled the jade necklace with a sudden force.